India has third largest internet population in the world: comScore

The Indian digital ecosystem is throwing up some interesting statistics. India has surpassed Japan to become the third largest internet population, rising to 73.9 million users – a 31 per cent growth as compared to last year. India is now behind China (second largest) and the US at the top.

The new statistics were revealed in a comScore study titled ‘India Digital Future in Focus 2013’. According to the study, about 75 per cent of internet users in India are under the age of 35, making it the youngest skewing online population among the BRIC countries.

Across all age and gender groups, women between the ages of 35 years and 44 years are the heaviest internet users in the Indian market. The study further states that the Indian blogging audience has risen by 48 per cent in the past year to 36 million visitors. About 26 per cent of category traffic comes from mobile phones and tablets. About 54 million internet users in the country watch online videos on their computer, showing a 27 per cent increase over the past year.

Apart from these, the study also reveals that social networks capture the largest percentage of consumers’ screen time in the region.

Facebook rules the chart: Facebook continues to be the number one social network in India, with a 28 per cent increase in traffic in the last 12 months and a reach of 86 per cent. According to the study, 59,642,000 users visit Facebook on their PCs. About 217 minutes are spent on Facebook by an average user.

LinkedIn remains at the top when it comes to business, Twitter continues to be popular: LinkedIn emerges as the number two social networking site when it comes to business. According to the study, on an average 18.7 people visit LinkedIn per minute. There is a 58 per cent increase in the number of users on LinkedIn in India.

Pinterest and Tumblr – new kids on the block: Pinterest and Tumblr have emerged as the fastest growing networks. There is a 130 per cent increase in Tumblr and 589 per cent increase in Pinterest users in the region. Meanwhile, share of time spent on services (email, IM) is also significant.